


The Climbing Lesson

by sweetcarolanne



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adopted Children, Apes & Monkeys, F/F, Gen, Love, Mermaids, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Nymphs & Dryads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-09 22:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17413781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/sweetcarolanne
Summary: A mermaid and her dryad lover help to open up a little mer-chimpanzee's world...





	The Climbing Lesson

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thirteenie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thirteenie/gifts).



> The mermaid and the dryad are from mythology, but the mer-chimp is my own invention.
> 
> Many thanks to my anonymous beta.

As soon as the mermaid touched the riverbank, her tail divided into slender legs covered in iridescent scales of mauve and aqua, brighter than jewels. Her baby daughter, the orphaned waif she had found drifting almost lifeless in a clump of seaweed and nursed back to health to raise as her own, grew feet that were prehensile like those of any normal chimpanzee, and no trace of the tail she had formerly sported remained visible to the naked eye. 

Shaking the droplets of glistening cold water off her vivid pink fur, the little mer-chimp soon found her footing on the ground, knuckle-walking clumsily at first and then with increasing speed and grace. Her confidence grew as her mother walked behind her, keeping a close eye on her progress but not intervening in any way. 

Soon they reached their destination, a thick-trunked tree with sprawling limbs and golden fruit the size and shape of hens’ eggs dangling from every branch.

“Climb up!” the dryad within the tree called to the baby mer-chimp, bending the branches as low as possible so the little one could grasp them. 

Tiny hands grabbed instinctively for the nearest available twig, and the happy child was soon swinging from branch to branch and hooting in triumph for the entire forest to hear.

“Look at me, Mother! See what I can do!” she called, and the mermaid sat on a moss-covered rock nearby, beaming with pride.

Like a silvery shadow, the dryad slipped from within the tree to crouch beside her beloved mermaid, and the two gazed, smiling, up at the little mer-chimp as she perched on the highest bough and gorged herself with the tree’s rich fruits.


End file.
